Self-identifying check



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

E. L. G, WARD.

SELF IDENTIFYING CHECK, DRAFT, ORDER, &c.

ffQEf/mf @wf ,SOUTmRN EXPRESS GoMoNEY ORDER ms J. A6139.;

(No Mom.) 2 sheets-sheet 2.

E. L. C. WARD. SELF IDBNTIPYING GHBGK, DRAFT, ORDER, &c. No. 569,364. Patented Oct. 13, 1896.

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' .UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDlVARDL. O. VARD, OF ATLANTA, GEORGIA.

SELF-IDENTIFYING CHECK, DRAFT, ORDER, &.C.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 569,364, dated October 13, 1896.

Application filed August 19, 1895. Serial No. 559,832. (No specimens.)

To @ZZ whom, it may concern/.-

Be it knovvn that I, EDWARD L. O. XVARD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Atlanta, in the county of Fulton and State of Georgia, have invented a new and useful Self- Identifying Check, Draft, or Order, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a self-identifying safety check, draft, or order adapted for Government or express-company use, or other commercial paper orinstrument, the same being so constructed as to conceal the name of the payee except from the payer, and being further provided with concealed means for positively identifying the payee, such means being inaccessible except by tampering Wit-h the check, draft, or order in such a Way as to render the same void.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will appear in the following description, and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure l is a view of an order constructed in accordance with my invention ready for transmission to the payee and as it should be presented to the payer. Fig. 2 is a view of the order detached from the closure or envelop to show the notice stub. Figs. 3 and 3 are respectively the front and rear sides of an identiiicatiomcard adapted to be inclosed in the envelop with the notice-stubbeforesealingsaid envelop. Figs. i and a are respectively the front and rear sides of a second identification card, also adapted to be inclosed in the envelop With the notice-stub or to be inclosed under separate cover with a duplicate notice-stub to the paying-oiiice. Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section of the order and the inclosing envelop. Fig. G is a detail view in perspective of the envelop.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

In the drawings I have shown my invention applied to an express money-order, of which A represents the pay-order5 B, the notice-stub g C, a separate envelop in which the notice-stub is inclosed preparatory to intrusting it to the payee,and l) D theidentilication-cards, which are adapted to be inclosed with the noticestub in the envelop.

The pay-order, in addition to bearing the name of the company or bank, the amount for which the order is drawn, the series or number of the order, the signatures of the agent, auditor, and the sender or remitter, and the terms or contract under which the order is issued, is provided With a space a for a name, such as Autograph, Identification, Party named inside, or an assumed name, such as John Doe, or the space may beleft blank. The pay-order should also bear the name of the paying-office.

The notice-stub, which is permanently attached to the pay-order,is provided with a duplicate of the series mark and numberfound on the pay-order, and in addition thereto is adapted to bear the proper name of the payee, together With a calendar of dates and amounts to be stamped or punched to agree with the amount indicated upon the face of the payorder. The pay-order becomes void if detached from the notice-stub, and a Warning or notice to that effect may, as indicated, be placed upon the order.

After the notice-stub and payorder have been filled out as indicated, the former, which is distinguished from the latter by the dotted line indicated at h, is inserted in the envelop C, which is also provided with a series character and number corresponding with those upon the order, and which is adapted to be gu mined, as at c, and sealed in a manner similar to that practiced by express-companies at present to engage and securely fasten the notice-stub therein. The detachment of the envelop or the breaking of the seals renders the order void, and a notice to that effect may be placed, as indicated, upon the face of the envelop.

From the above description it will be seen that the name of the payee is arranged only upon the notice-stub, which is inclosed in the envelop, .and access cannot be had to the same except by injuring the envelop or seals and thereby rendering the order void vor nonpayable, and the date and amount calendar, which is also placed upon the notice-stub, serves as a check to prevent changing the dates and amounts upon the pay-order.

The provision of the envelop with a series character and number corresponding with those upon the pay-order and notice-stub prevents the removal of the envelop and the substitution of another after the notice-stub has been inspected, but in order to still further guard against the payment of the order to parties not entitled to cash the same I provide an identification-card adapted to be arranged in the envelop and containing information relating to the sender, the payee, or both. The form of identiiication-card, which is shown at D, is provided upon one side in the space indicated at d, with a private stamp, seal, combination in words or figures, or autograph of the sender and above and below the same with the date and the amount of the order, and upon the other side the signature of the payee, or, as indicated in the drawings, duplicate crossed signatures of the payee with the notice to pay on presentation of a duplicate of such signature.

In Fig. 4 I have shown a second form of identification-card adapted to be used separately or in .connection with the form shown in Fig. 3, the same being provided with a description of the payee. This description may be either verbal or in the form of a print or photograph, and in the construction illustrated a photograph is arranged upon one side of the card, and upon the other is a verbal description giving the height, color of .the eyes, complexion, dac.

A still further safeguard consists in sending a duplicate of the identification-card and a duplicate of the notice-stub to the payingoftice under separate cover; but instead of sending aduplicate of the identification-card, such as that illustrated in Fig. 3, a single card may be torn in half or bisected, as .upon the dotted line shown at d', one part being placed in the envelop containing the noticestub and accompanying the pay-.order and the `other part being sent under separate cover to the paying-office, the proper matching of the two parts serving to .connect the pay-order with the private notice sent to the payingoffice, and hence establish, in connection with his signature, the identity of the party presenting the pay-order, or, as a still further means of identification, a combination of private,cipher-characters or combination in words, letters, or figures known only to sender and payee may be used with or without key to the same.

In order to facilitate the introduction of the notice-stub and identification devices into the envelop, the side edges of the latter are split for a short distance back from the mouth or opening, as Shown at C', to form liaps which maybe turned back, as shown in Fig. 6. The inner surfaces of these iiaps are gummed to adhere, respectively, to the front and rear sides of the order.

The advantage derived from the use of a separate envelop lies in the fact that it does not complicate the construction of the order, and the latter may be used without the envelop, if desired.

It will be understood, furthermore, that the above-described construction of identification devices is adapted for use in connection with railway-tickets, the function of the identifying means and the closure in which the stub is enveloped being the same as in connection with the forms of commercial papers shown in the drawings and specifically described hereinbefore.

Variouschanges in the form, proportion, and the minor details of construction may be resorted to without ldeparting from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim is l. A blank for a check, draft, .orother paper having a pay-order, an attached notice-stub bearing the name of the payee, and an envelop inclosing and concealing the noticestub, said envelop being .open at one edge to receive the notice-stub and provided, upon opposite sides of said open edge, with iiaps adapted to be secured to the fron-t .and rear sides of the notice-stub, substantially as speciiied.

2. A blank for a check, draft, .or other paper having a pay-order, an attached notice-stub bearing the name of the payee, and an envelop inclosing and concealing the noticestub, said envelop Vbeing open at one edge to receive the notice-stub and being cut away or split from the extremities of said open edge toward the opposite ed ge toform intermediate iiaps upon opposite sides of said open edge, the flaps being gummed upon their inner surfaces to adhere to the front and rear surfaces .of the notice-stub, substantially as specified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

EDWARD L. C. WARD. Vitnesses:

J. O. B. ORME, J. P. DAILEY.

IOO 

